A lack of trust between banks and personal insolvency advisers is blocking attempts to resolve long-term mortgage arrears cases, the State’s new insolvency agency chief Michael McNaughton has said, The Irish Times reported. Mr McNaughton, who took over as director of the Insolvency Service of Ireland last year, has urged banks and personal insolvency practitioners to be “more collaborative” in their dealings with each other in order to resolve the large post-crisis backlog of insolvent mortgage cases.
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The High Court has approved a Personal Insolvency Arrangement (PIA) allowing a man to write down almost all of his €60 million debts, The Irish Times reported…Mr Justice Mark Sanfey approved a PIA in respect of Enda Patrick Whelan of College Grove, Ennis, Co Clare. Mr Whelan’s creditors include National Asset Loan Management (NALM), a Nama company, which was owed some €56.4 million arising out of personal guarantees he had given in respect of four companies owned by his family.
Airline shares surged in Europe after Ryanair Holdings Plc said it expects to post a bigger-than-expected full-year profit following a spike in lucrative last-minute bookings over the Christmas and New Year holiday, Bloomberg News reported. Europe’s biggest discount airline now anticipates earnings for the 12 months through March of between 950 million euros ($1.06 billion) and 1.05 billion euros, and most likely in the middle of that range, according to a statement on Friday. It had previously forecast 800 million euros to 900 million euros.
Taoiseach Leo Vardakar has made it clear the Football Association of Ireland will not be handed a blank cheque to pay for its "mistakes of the past,” the Irish Post reported. The crisis-hit organisation had requested an €18m bail-out earlier this month to stave of the threat of insolvency. Minister for Sport Shane Ross said at the time the FAI – who face debts of up to €62 million euro – will not receive state funding. And the Taoiseach confirmed that is the approach his government still intend to take.
Irish households have reduced their debt by a third since the crash, figures from the Central Bank show. After a nearly a decade of belt-tightening, household debt in the Republic stood at €135.3 billion, or €27,489 per person, in the second quarter of 2019, The Irish Times reported. While this was still one of the highest debt levels in Europe, it was 33 per cent, or €67.6 billion, lower than the boom-time peak of €203 billion recorded in the third quarter of 2008 just as the financial crisis hit.
Pre-tax losses at a holding company for Michael JF Wright’s hospitality group last year increased almost threefold to €1.2 million, The Irish Times reported. However, the group is in expansion mode and has plans to open St Andrew’s Food Hall at Suffolk Street next year. Accounts lodged by The Wright Bar Group Ltd show that pre-tax losses increased from €419,809 to €1.2 million, due mainly to an exceptional cost. The group recorded the increase in losses as revenues declined marginally from €16.87 million to €16.31 million in the 12 months to the end of June last year.
Irish banking stocks fell in Dublin on Tuesday as the Bank of England ordered lenders with businesses in the UK hold additional capital to absorb losses in the event of a sudden downturn, The Irish Times reported. Sentiment towards the sector was further dented as UK prime minister Boris Johnson put the threat of a no-deal Brexit back on the table as he outlined plans to legislate to ensure the transition phase of the European Union withdrawal will not extend beyond the end of 2020.
Debt ratings agency Moody’s has lowered its outlook on the Irish banking system to stable from positive as lenders’ profits are set to decline amid ongoing ultra-low central bank interest rates, the Irish Times reported. While Irish lenders’ levels of non-performing loans (NPLs) have come down significantly in recent years, they remain “sizeable”, it said.
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The owners of Fishshack and Ouzos restaurants will sell some of its properties as part of a rescue deal, the Irish Times reported. The chain’s owner, PBR Restaurants, sought High Court protection from its creditors in August after running into financial difficulty. PBR owed €700,000 to suppliers and other unsecured creditors. As part of a rescued deal that the court approved on Monday, the company will sell restaurants in Blackrock and Dalkey in Dublin and focus on the Fishshack business.The plan also involves a new investor providing cash for the chain.